Waiouru

Waiouru in the central North Island provides the New Zealand Defence Force with a unique training area. Its rugged terrain and challenging climate makes it an exceptional area for open country training and live firing.

The Waiouru defence area has about 500 civilian and military staff working there.

It has a military manoeuvre and live fire training area, urban training facility as well as helicopter landing pads meaning the training area can support all three Services as well as other government agencies and international partners wanting to train there.

The Defence area in Waiouru is also a landmark in the local community with facilities including the National Army Marae and the National Army Museum, which is a popular visitor destination.

The Waiouru defence area will continue to be a premier training area for the New Zealand Defence Force. Plans to upgrade facilities include a mounting base headquarters communications and control centre with construction due to get underway in 2018. The mounting base will control the use of the Waiouru Training Area which will have improved range facilities, improved communications coverage and better vehicle access as well as satellite camps.

The timeline of projects is indicative at this stage but work is expected to get underway on the training area’s communications network in 2018, with work due to get started the following year on back-up power generation.

Work is scheduled to begin in 2019 on a teaching facility, and upgrades to weapons ranges and a helicopter landing facility are in the pipeline to get underway in 2022.